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Electrolysis - Soda - Brand recommendation request
VinceGledhill - 25/12/16 at 09:38 PM

Please can you give me a recommendation for the soda for electrolysis?

I have all four major UK supermarkets in my area. ASDA, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Morrisons, oh... and the cheaper supermarkets like ALDI and Lidl etc.

Please can you recommend a brand that's been good for you?

mark chandler - 25/12/16 at 10:02 PM

It really does not matter, you could use Coca-Cola or vinegar instead, just get the cheapest you can find.

britishtrident - 25/12/16 at 10:13 PM

Any washing soda but add some salt to improve the conduction.
For complex shapes I just use a acid bath citric, phosphoric or acetic instead of electrolysys

[Edited on 25/12/16 by britishtrident]

Slimy38 - 25/12/16 at 11:09 PM

I got my wife to keep an eye out when she went to poundland/poundworld/poundstretcher/pound(insert name here). Eventually she came back with several packs of the stuff for a fraction of the price of all the supermarkets.

StevieB - 26/12/16 at 07:22 AM

I've used malt vinegar neat before, not with electrolysis but just as a bath to soak parts in.


Worked really well over couple of days, then when the parts were finished just scrubbed them off and rinsed with clean water. I fired up the gas barbecue t a reasonable temp and put the parts in there (calliper brackets) to fully dry off and make sure the water was out of all the pores in the casting.

presumably the same could be used with electrolysis to speed things up?

Word of warning though - there are fewer things in life that have made me wrath quite as much as taking the lid off a large box thats been filled with malt vinegar and rusty parts for 2 days!

britishtrident - 26/12/16 at 07:35 AM

After an acid pickle first rinse off then immediately wash with a dilute solution of sodium bicarbonate then rinse again with boiled water (boiled water has lower oxygen content) , t then dry and apply some form of corrosion protection.

big_wasa - 26/12/16 at 08:48 AM

Got mine from Morrisons, it wasn't dear.

big_wasa - 26/12/16 at 11:02 AM

Edit, it's still a quid a bag.

miskit - 26/12/16 at 12:58 PM

Dri-pak and a laptop charger worked very well for me
As above about £1/kg bag
http://www.dri-pak.co.uk/cleaning-products/soda-crystals/

VinceGledhill - 26/12/16 at 04:43 PM

quote:
Originally posted by miskit
Dri-pak and a laptop charger worked very well for me
As above about £1/kg bag
http://www.dri-pak.co.uk/cleaning-products/soda-crystals/


Brilliant, thanks.

chris_smith - 26/12/16 at 06:15 PM

I bought 2 of the £1 bags dri PAC as above and have done all uprights calipers hubs etc